Evaluating the Impacts of Conservation Stewardship Plantings on Arthropod Communities in Louisiana Agroecosystems

Project Overview

GS21-240
Project Type: Graduate Student
Funds awarded in 2021: $16,008.00
Projected End Date: 08/31/2023
Grant Recipient: Louisiana State University
Region: Southern
State: Louisiana
Graduate Student:
Scott Lee
Email
Major Professor:
Dr. Jeffrey Davis
Email
Louisiana State University

Information Products

Commodities

  • Agronomic: soybeans

Practices

  • Natural Resources/Environment: hedgerows, riparian buffers
  • Pest Management: integrated pest management, prevention

    Abstract:

    Southern crop producers are shifting more and more to sustainable practices to increase conservation efforts.  Whether it be the planting of shelterbelts for erosion control or the use of cover crops to promote better soil health, growers have several options to improve farm sustainability.  Conservation strategies can be developed through the aid of programs like the Conservation Stewardship Program, whose main goal is to provide farmers the tools to successfully apply these conservation tactics on their farms.  Several of these environmental manipulations may also support more stable natural enemy abundances, but a better understanding of whether the tactics provided by the Conservation Stewardship Program effectively increase natural enemy abundance is still needed.  Do conservation areas such as buffer strips enhance natural enemy or pest populations or both?

    In this study, an investigation of the effects of conservation plantings on both natural enemy and pest populations adjacent to soybean plantings will take place.  An assessment of arthropod populations in conservation areas (i.e., buffer strip, orchard, and shelterbelt) will be conducted both on-station as well as in collaboration with a Louisiana soybean producer currently enrolled in the Conservation Stewardship Program.  Additionally, stink bug pests and four natural enemy groups, Anthocoridae, Geocoris spp., Reduviidae, and Araneae, will be targeted to track movement and verify whether migration into adjacent soybean occurs.

    The main goal of this proposed study was to aid in the development of more sustainable management strategies by determining if Conservation Stewardship Plantings effectively conserve natural enemies or if they provide a bridge for pests into adjacent soybeans.

     

    Project objectives:

    Objective 1. Monitor abundance of arthropod natural enemies and pests within Conservation Stewardship plantings during the growing season.

    Objective 2. Determine movement of arthropods from Conservation Stewardship plantings into adjacent crop using a mark and capture technique

    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.